Kansas Election Results

Though Kansas is reliably Republican in presidential elections, the governorship has been passed from party to party for decades. It did just so this year, when State Senator Laura Kelly, the Democratic candidate, defeated Secretary of State Kris Kobach, the Republican nominee, to assume the position.

Ms. Kelly, a longtime legislator from Topeka, presented herself as a pragmatist and capitalized on the unpopularity of the former governor, Sam Brownback, a Republican who left office earlier this year after overseeing sweeping tax cuts and large revenue shortfalls. Several well-known moderate Republicans crossed party lines to endorse Ms. Kelly.

Democrats see an opening to pick off a seat on what has long been firmly Republican turf in eastern Kansas. The incumbent, Representative Lynn Jenkins, is not seeking another term.

President Trump won this district by 18 percentage points in 2016, and after this election it remains a heavily Republican area. The Republican opponent, Steve Watkins, a military veteran and political newcomer, defeated Paul Davis, a former state legislator who was the Democratic nominee for governor in 2014.

The Democrat, Sharice Davids, defeated Representative Kevin Yoder, a long-time Republican incumbent, to serve a district includes Kansas City, Kan., and the affluent suburbs of Johnson County.

Ms. Davids will represent several firsts in Congress: She will be the first lesbian congresswoman from Kansas. She will be one of the first Native American women in Congress. And she will be the first congresswoman who was once a professional mixed martial arts fighter.